black-eyed peas

In hope of good luck and prosperity in the new year, I cooked up a pot of black-eyed peas yesterday. Eating black-eyed peas, collard greens and cornbread on the first day of the new year has been a tradition in the Southeast United States for generations. Heck, even if they don't bring me good luck and prosperity, they have certainly brought me happy taste buds, a full stomach and tons of good nutrition. Read more about the tradition here. For my collard green recipe, click here.

Both the black-eyed peas and collards greens can be prepared with or without a ham hock. I've made the collard greens both ways and tend to cook them without the hock just because it's one less step, less money and every bit as scrumptious. Although I intended to make the black-eyed peas with a ham hock, I forgot to buy one and therefore made it without. I was far far far from disappointed. These beans are freaking delicious!

I made my peas in slow cooker so that I could just throw it all in there and forget about it while I cooked other things but they can also be made on the stove top. To prepare them on the stove, just saute the onions and garlic in a large pot with the olive oil until soft, add the rest of the ingredients and then let everything simmer on low (with a lid) until the peas are cooked through. Super easy.





Total Recipe cost: $2.74
Servings Per Recipe: 8 (one cup each)
Cost per serving: $0.34
Prep time: 10 min. Cook time: 3 hrs. Total: 3 hrs 10 min.

INGREDIENTS		COST
1 med	onion	$0.38
2 cloves	garlic	$0.14
2 Tbsp	olive oil	$0.22
1 lb.	dried black-eyed peas	$1.28
6 cups	water	$0.00
2 Tbsp	chicken bouillon granules	$0.52
2 whole	bay leaves	$0.05
1/2 tsp	dried thyme	$0.05
1/4 tsp	red pepper flakes	$0.05
20 cranks	fresh ground black pepper	$0.05
TOTAL		$2.74

STEP 1: Chop the onion and garlic and place it in the slow cooker with a couple tablespoons of olive oil.

STEP 2: Dump the dry peas into a colander and sift through to remove any stones or bad peas. Rinse thoroughly with water then add to the slow cooker.

STEP 3: Add 6 cups of chicken broth (or 6 cups of water and 2 Tbsp bouillon) to the slow cooker along with two bay leaves, 1/2 tsp of dried thyme, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.

STEP 4: Place the lid on the slow cooker, turn the power on to High and let cook until the peas are soft. I let mine cook without checking them for three hours and they were perfectly cooked. They may have been done sooner but I didn't have a chance to check. Black-eyed peas tend to cook faster than other beans.

Step By Step Photos

Chop up the onion and garlic and place it in the slow cooker with a little bit of olive oil.


Pour the dry peas into a colander and sift through to remove stones and other debris. Rinse them well.


Pour the sorted and rinsed peas in the slow cooker. Call me crazy, but I think these little peas are beautiful!


Add 6 cups of chicken broth or the water + bouillon equivalent. The store was out of my favorite Better Than Bouillon so I had to get these granules. It still tasted good.


Add in the seasonings: bay leaves, dried thyme, red pepper flakes and freshly ground black pepper.


Secure the lid, set the cooker to High and let 'er go for about 3 hours. In the end you'll have perfectly cooked, insanely delicious black-eyed peas!



These were so good that I just ate them in a bowl by themselves but you could ladle them over rice or serve with some corn bread. The thick liquid surrounding the peas is so flavorful that you don't want to miss a drop!